Monster Manual from A to Z: A is for... Aarakocra!

The first monster mentioned in the Monster Manual is the birdlike humanoid called the Aarakocra. If I am not mistaken, when Xanathar's Guide for Everything came out, it also gave the character building needs for Players wanting to play as one of these warriors.

**I did some more research and now cannot locate where the Aarakocra build info came from (I do lots of online research so it may have been a homebrew wiki) so if you have any info about building an Aarakocra PC for others, leave a link or something in the comments!**

I didn't think about how much detail that come with feathers! But it was a fun and involved first monster!

I will include this dude's stat block for reference.

NPC Turned Best Boi- Comic Included!

Story Time!

So as previously mentioned I was the DM for my group when we started playing. None of the players were comfortable yet with the system and so I had still never actually played the game as a Player Character myself. Now being the semi-intelligent person I am sometimes, I decided to help my players along with the story, and battles because they were only 3 players in a mildly difficult recommended 4-5 player story, by creating an NPC for them to take along as a guide, extra pair of hands, and... well to be frank a man. I have nothing against all female parties. They are interesting as all get-out. But considering these characters, who could barely agree on plans or simple courses of action without a long drawn-out meeting, they needed a decisive presence. And being the meddling witch I am, I decided that the character should be male. Hey if they wanted to start a side-plot romantic pursuit, why the hell not?! Feelings like hate, love, suspicion... they create depth and with depth comes interest. Besides, he was going to be the deepest man I could think to create. And I went through the fan-fiction crazes of the early 2000s-- I at least knew what to stay away from when making him.

BUT

After researching online and from the comments from players and DMs alike, I found out my boi was going to be more of a DMPC. Even though I want to pride myself with being able to compartmentalize while playing, meta-gaming can be a powerfully sneaky hate spiral. And because I am an empathetic witch, I couldn't help but think playing him myself would lead to conflicts of interest with my players, not to mention ruin any kind of chance that they may be able to work out problems themselves. They didn't NEED me to give them help in this way. They didn't NEED him.

I ended up giving the bard (who is a forest and animal lover) a whistle that acts like a find familiar spell. It definitely helped even out the tide of battle as far as they didn't get stomped as much as they used to.

So best boi went into the vault. It wasn't until a group member decided she wanted to try her hand at DMing that he even came out. He even got his own character sheet, and I got to play as a player! He did get two followers that he hired (one as a fighter companion, and one as a healer) because he was a low-HP little new baby.

I didn't even give him items... I just rolled his stats and went to work!


So there it is. My first ever PC, and he was just slapdash thrown together so I could try out the Wild Magic Sorcerer. (I had been interested in rogues and rangers since I got into playing, but after watching Charisma Plus... I watched Reynoir, their draconic-lineage sorcerer, and had wanted to play a spellcaster ever since. The wild magic seemed a better fit for me, so that's what I chose.)


So here is Tal. He is a Drow Wild Magic Sorcerer who is a sweet boi and I love him. I knew I wanted to make him a tortured soul, so he has literal scars that show his pained past. I mean... he was mauled as a child in the Underdark and blinded in his left eye. And when he discovered his magic, the uncontrolled power basically scarred/discolored his left arm, but restored his sight. (I have been working on his journal for his journey from the Underdark to the surface, while discovering his magic. It's a lot, it's heavy, and I may have cried while writing some of it.) He was quite embarrassed by his arm for the longest time, but lately as I have played him more, he doesn't mind as much that people can see it. Far more crazy things go on to be worried about it anymore, I guess. A man of few words, and of contemplative action. And a temper. He has engaged in friendly fire in the past.

What makes me love him all the more is that after his first campaign, while the healer hireling was almost worthless, the fighter companion was born into a comrade and eventually made into a PC as well. The two are best buddies, and on the fighters design (yes I made him a mini too-- my two best bois!) he has a tree incorporated on his breastplate because he is very tall, and Tal (who is short at around 5'4"-5'5") loves to climb onto his shoulders for a better vantage. I can make a post about him later because he is another best boi, but this post is about Tal! To the comic!

The Magic of Minis!: My First Ever Mini Designs

Well, It's Time.

So after an entire day working on backgrounds after a late night of lining and coloring a mini, I am finally ready to post my first piece of artwork! I had decided to make minis for my group after I received a play grid for Christmas. We had been working in Theater of the Mind, which is absolutely fine, but it can be difficult for people who want to visually assess the battle situation.

So the major dork I am, designed the minis for my group and printed them on shrinking plastic. They even had their names printed on the back (before I figured out how to do the backsides) and were then hot-glued to their bases.

This reminds me... We still haven't finished this campaign. This was the absolute first campaign we played, but we still haven't finished! I guess that's the problem with being adults with busy schedules. Eventually we will finish the  Lost Mine of Phandelver. But that hasn't stopped us from having other adventures!

 

So we have a lovely Wood Elf Bard, a bad-ass Half-Elf Monk, and a mischievous Tiefling Rogue.

Story time! The first time we played was the very first time for everyone. So I was DMing, as it was my idea to play, and within the very first round of the first encounter, a player had already fallen unconscious! So the rogue was sitting on the cart during the first encounter, took two arrows to the face, fell off the wagon, hit her head and then was unconscious for the rest of the encounter. We kid that character so much because she is either super duper sneaky and strong, or a complete derp.

So yes! The end of my story, the end of my post! Cheers all! Be kind and lovely to one another~

First Post: The Adventure Begins!

My goodness, here it goes!

For a blog aiming to post Miniatures and Miniature art for Dungeons & Dragons, I am going to start off with a text post about my goals for this blog, myself, and my art journey including making minis.

Firstly, I apologize for basically bombarding an already saturated internet with more content that is decidedly niche. But I think there is a wonderful power in small communities, or even communities that are large, but fragmented by distance. That's the power of the internet! Thank you for choosing to connect with me. Even if you won't read this post, thank you for looking at my minis, encouraging me to work harder, and even just letting me know that you are out there.

I was introduced to D&D by the cartoon. God knows how long ago that was. I re-watched the series when I was studying in undergraduate... But never had the time, money, friends, or courage to actually dive in and play for a long time. So I finally coerced my current group to play with me in August of 2017. It's almost my anniversary! But it took (I looked it up) over 7 years to get me from interested student to actual playing twenty-something.

Warning! Huge Section About a D&D Stream I like!

As far as current D&D inspiration, I am a fan of CinnamonToastKen's D&D show Charisma Plus. It gave me the courage to roust up the small group I play with now. The Charisma Plus community is also so wholesome and great, and the players are lovely, expressive, and make the game so interesting. Also, I shouldn't forget all the majorly awesome work Ken (the Dungeon Master) did in creating this huge, interesting, intertwined world they play in. 10/10 would definitely recommend. They just finished Season 1 and it was amazing.

I will put some links to all the Charisma Plus things I can think of.
CinnamonToastKen's Twitch (They usually stream Charisma Plus on Saturdays at 7pm, but they are on hiatus now between seasons): LINK!
The Charisma Plus YouTube Channel (where Ken posts the episodes for those who don't use Twitch): LINK!
The CharismaPlus Hashtag on Twitter (Great place to see the community, fanart, the interact with the players/DM. Note: some people post not-D&D related content here... but most people mute those...):  LINK!
The CharismaPlusDnD Hashtag on Twitter (The lesser used hashtag, but it works the same with less unrelated stuff!): HAVE A LINK~!

Now that I have finished fan-ing out over that show...

I have heard of more popular D&D streams/shows, but I don't have the time nor mental space to start or keep up with them. Hopefully in the future I will!

Goals for this Blog

So I started this blog because I wanted to share with the community and connect over what I consider the best experience in imaginative, creative gaming. Not to mention exercises in problem solving, situations of maximum hilarity, and times to reflect and process difficult topics. All at the whims of the dice. Also the DM, but I digress.

So, I have already started 3 projects that I hope to share: The A to Z Monster Manual Crawl, The Generic Human Enemies/NPC Mini Set, and The Common Monsters Set. Note: these are all done in 2D, fronts and backs, which will then be printed, pasted together, and then cut out to be added to my growing menagerie.

The A to Z Monster Manual Crawl will be me literally going page by page in the MM. I have started sketches, and currently I have a few to rework, because I want to adapt certain monsters even more to my style. I don't want cute humanoid minis and then more realistic monsters. Not for me at least.

I started The Generic Humans/NPC set because a good number of campaigns have humans as battle enemies. Also because I think that having multiple avenues with which to work will reduce the chances that I get bored, frustrated, or give up on a set before they are complete.

Lastly, The Common Monsters set will be for all those campaigns that literally use the same basic monsters. Let's be fair, when you start a low-level campaign, you are going to end up ambushed by goblins, zombies, umm... maybe a bugbear? But these monsters are classic, common, and well-used. I will basically be pulling from my own minuscule experience to figure out which monsters land in this set, and working from there. I have one completed monster from this set, which is the classic feral goblin.

I hope to post progress sketches, completed minis, and maybe if there is enough interest I can post speedpaints.

I may post some other art from other areas, like character minis (as I have done maybe... 10 to 15 character minis so far. I have a problem), hand-drawn sketches ( 99% of all my D&D art is done digitally), and minis from competed campaigns (a member of my group ran a Big Trouble in Little China campaign which was hilarious and awesome and had special styles of monsters as well as a bad guy/boss with 6 different designs so the DM could have their pick). I can also post pictures I take during play, minis in action so to speak. I have had my DM ask for monster minis as we sat down to play with hilarious results (quick drawn monsters on index cards).

My main goal is to post somewhat frequently and connect with the people who visit here. It is a wonderful thing to be a part of a community.

Cheers all! Be kind and lovely to one another.